[Photoshop by NY POST] WASHINGTON POST: At the final, critical meeting in negotiations on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout — the last round of talks began at 10:40 p.m. Saturday and ended around 12:25 a.m. this morning — Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was so short of breath that lawmakers called the Capitol physician because they were so concerned. Paulson, 62, a former Dartmouth offensive tackle, told lawmakers he was fine and waved off the doctor, despite working around the clock for several days. But as Paulson and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) later walked to the microphones to address the […]
HEAD OF SKATE: Would Be Funnier If It Wasn’t True
EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome Salon, Wonkette and Andrew Sullivan readers! You can find all of our Sarah Palin coverage HERE.
KILLADELPHIA: Stick Up Men Get Rough Justice
INQUIRER: City police concluded a probe of a fatal shooting in a Southwest neighborhood that was in self-defense. A man in his 20s was fatally shot twice in the chest shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday in the 5100 block of Warrington Street near South 52d Street in Southwest Philadelphia. Police Information Officer Christine O’Brien said the man and a 17-year-old male accomplice were attempting to rob two other men on the street. They were shot by the men they were trying to hold up, O’Brien said. The teen was shot twice in the left arm and was in stable condition […]
GAMBLOR: John McCain, Casino First
NEW YORK TIMES: Senator John McCain was on a roll. In a room reserved for high-stakes gamblers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 a.m., the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings. A lifelong gambler, Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table. He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the Republican Party’s evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting […]
EARLY WORD: Celebrate Banned Books Week
Celebrate Your Freedom to Read! Banned Books Week, September 27-October 4, 2008 Each year libraries, schools, and book lovers come together for Banned Books Week, a celebration of our freedom to read without censorship. The American Library Association receives hundreds of reports every year about books and other materials that have been threatened with removal from public libraries and schools. For each known incident, four or five others go unreported. The children’s book “And Tango Makes Three” topped the 2007 list of most challenged books. Get involved in the fight against censorship. Attend one of these two Banned Books events […]
GOODBYE COOL HAND LUKE: Paul Newman Is Dead
NEW YORK TIMES: Paul Newman, one of the last of the great 20th-century movie stars, died Friday at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 83. The cause was cancer, said Jeff Sanderson of Chasen & Company, Mr. Newman’s publicists. If Marlon Brando and James Dean defined the defiant American male as a sullen rebel, Paul Newman recreated him as a likable renegade, a strikingly handsome figure of animal high spirits and blue-eyed candor whose magnetism was almost impossible to resist, whether the character was Hud, Cool Hand Luke or Butch Cassidy. He acted in more than 65 movies over […]
LIVE & DIRECT: Mississippi Burning
We were planning to live blog from the Irish Pub, with one eye on Bible Spice and the other on the debate — but her handlers are already shooing her out of town before anyone actually asks her a question. Never fear, though, dear reader, for we shall be liveblogging the debate from the comfort of our pajamas. As per usual, Citizen Mom and Jonathan Valania — the Greatest Political Analyst Team In The Known Universe — will be cracking wise, with occasional shoutouts from Philly Mag’s Steve Volk. You lucky ducks! 8:54 PMCitizen: yo 8:55 PM Where the hell is […]
LAME: Palin Bails On Debate Watch Party; McCain Travels Thru Time, Wins Debate Before It Happens
LIVE FROM THE WASILLA WITCH TRIAL: Obama supporters vastly outnumber Palin supporters out front of the Irish Pub, Philadelphia, 6:41 PM [Photos by KEVIN C. BROWN] BOSTON HERALD: Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is scheduled to appear at a tavern near Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square — but to leave before the presidential debate.The Irish Pub is to welcome ticketed guests at 5 p.m. Friday. One of the owners, Mark O’Connor, tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that Palin is expected to show up between 7 and 7:30 p.m. and greet people. O’Connor says she should leave around 8:30 p.m., half an hour […]
KILLADELPHIA: Court Kills New Gun Laws Dead
INQUIRER: Philadelphia officials cannot enact gun laws tougher than Pennsylvania’s law, a state appeals court ruled today in throwing out city ordinances that would have limited gun purchases to one a month and banned assault weapons, among other things. Commonwealth Court dismissed a lawsuit against the Legislature filed by two members of Philadelphia’s City Council, Darrell L. Clarke and Donna Reed Miller. The court cited language in several gun ordinances the council passed last year that the measures cannot take effect unless the Legislature were to let municipalities enact stricter laws. That has not happened. “While we understand the terrible […]
GAYDAR: Is That All There Is To An Apocalypse?
BY AARON STELLA Well, here we are again with another exciting edition of GAYDAR! This week, we’re traveling back in time to turn-of-the-century Alabama, the land of pork rinds, pickled pigs feet, deep-fried snickers and Creationism. Know that it wasn’t the simple fare or the relaxed colloquialisms, or even the Biblical science, that drew my family to the middle of nowhere. We were pilgrims, in the loosest sense of the word, in that we desired a new start, and a place where we could worship freely with fellow Catholics — oh yeah, and we were on the run from […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
[Illustration by JAY BEVENOUR] FRESH AIR Australian singer Nick Cave and and his band, the Bad Seeds, are best known for angry, twisted, ballad-like lyrics. Their 2008 album, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!, was inspired, in part, by the Biblical story of Lazarus. It is Cave’s 14th studio album. In an article about Cave in Entertainment Weekly, Chris Nashawaty writes, “Over the years Cave’s songwriting has become more intricate and challenging, almost literary in its ambitions. He’s one of the few artists in rock & roll, or any medium, really, who’s managed to get better with age.” RADIO TIMES Hour 1 We […]
BREAKING: Milton Street Gets 30 Months Behind Bars
ACTION NEWS: The older brother of former Philadelphia Mayor John Street has been sentenced to 2½ years in prison and fined $413,000 for not filing tax returns. Prosecutors say Milton Street willfully avoided paying taxes on nearly $3 million in income. He was sentenced Friday, handcuffed and ordered to start serving his time immediately. MORE